Acts 26 (NMV)
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." So Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
2 "I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, to make my defense before you today against all the accusations brought by the Jews,
3 especially since you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.
5 They have known me for a long time and could testify, if they were willing, that I lived according to the strictest sect of our religion, as a Pharisee.
6 And now I stand here on trial because of the confident expectation in the promise God gave our ancestors,
7 the promise our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve Him night and day. It is for this hope that I am accused by the Jews, O king!
8 Why is it considered unbelievable among you that God raises the dead?
9 Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is exactly what I did in Jerusalem. I locked up many of the believers who belong to Him in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 I often tried to make them renounce their faith by punishing them in all the synagogues. I was so intensely enraged at them that I even pursued them to foreign cities.
12 While I was traveling to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 at midday, O king, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.
14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic: 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15 Then I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord replied, 'I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting.
16 But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as a servant and witness of what you have seen and of what I will reveal to you.
17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles [non-Jews]. I now send you to them
18 to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are set apart by faith in Me.'
19 So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
20 Instead, I first preached to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should change the way they live, turn to God, and demonstrate their repentance by what they do.
21 Because of this, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
22 But I have had help from God to this day, and so I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
23 that the Messiah would suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to both our people and the Gentiles."
24 As he was saying these things in his defense, Festus shouted in a loud voice, "You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!"
25 But Paul replied, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, what I am saying is true and reasonable.
26 The king knows about these matters, and I speak boldly to him. For I am convinced that none of these things has escaped his notice, since this was not done in a corner.
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do."
28 Agrippa said to Paul, "In such a short time are you trying to persuade me to become a Christian?"
29 Paul replied, "Whether short or long, I pray to God that not only you but also everyone listening to me today might become what I am, except for these chains."
30 The king, the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them got up,
31 and as they were leaving, they were saying to each other, "This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment."
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."